Trump's defense team failed to persuade Judge Juan Merchan to add more time to the clock before the start of the trial in his New York hush money case, leaving the former president shaking his head in frustration Monday as the judge set a jury selection date next month.
Trump seemed unimpressed as the defense asked for time to review the 170,000 pages of case documents they received more than a week ago. Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump, was allegedly paid $130,000 by former Trump fixer Michael Cohen to keep quiet during the 2016 presidential campaign. The DA claims Trump lied about business paperwork to hide Cohen's payments.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted Trump, sat behind prosecutors. Former president's morning may have been a roller coaster. A separate court Monday granted Trump a huge respite for the bond he was expected to deliver in his lost civil case.
Before entering court, he termed it "a witch hunt" and "a hoax." He frowned. As his defense attorney requested more discovery document review time, the court pressed him. He became increasingly frustrated as the defense failed to get the judge to review case records for more time.
With bloodshot eyes, Trump sat between his attorneys in a blue suit and scarlet tie. Trump didn't have to be present to witness Merchan as the court quoted parts of the defense brief and prosecutors' submissions before questioning his attorneys' discovery concerns timeliness. When the trial begins, he must attend daily.
Bragg's office requested the judge not to delay the trial, stating that only 300 of federal prosecutors' 170,000 papers are pertinent to Trump's defense.Merchan said Trump's lawyer's claim was unconvincing. “Why wait two months before trial? Why not June or July? Merchan said. Trump leaned back from the defense table and squinted his eyes as Merchan spoke. Trump glared and frowned as he left the courtroom during a 45-minute break.
Trump told five women in the back row "thank you" repeatedly as he left the courthouse. The women's support for the former president was unclear. A woman declined when asked. But Trump appeared to recognize the group, locking eyes with them before leaving. One woman appeared to softly heckle Bragg as be entered the courtroom to sit behind the prosecutors' bench.
Merchan repeatedly questioned Todd Blanche about the defense's allegations about the quantity of documents they needed to analyze, and Bragg prosecutors denied “actively suppressing discovery,” as Trump's team has claimed. As the judge asked Blanche, Trump's main attorney, how many relevant documents the defense needed to study, Blanche circled.
A state appeals court ruled that Trump and his co-defendants in a New York civil fraud case could post a lower bond, lowering it from $464 million to $175 million and delaying Attorney General Letitia James' seizure of his assets.
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